Psalms
139:21-22 KJV
Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved
with those that rise up against thee?
I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
What a passage in the light of our current world which
views most of Christianity as a hate group. Especially are the fundamentalists,
who are merely honest believers, classified as radical and militant extremists.
The only people in the world that the world permits hatred of are these
fundamentalist Christians. Though they might deny it, their true hatred is for
God, who gave us our Bible.
But God tells us of a perfect hatred. It is hatred of
those who hate God. It is a perfect hatred not only because of the object of
the hatred but the attitude and activity of this hatred. This hatred creates
grief in the heart. The point of this hatred is not the death of the one who
hates God but his conversion. We weep over our enemies; not that they are our
enemies and oppose us, but as the enemies of God they are destined to such
terrible judgment.
- We
would see them spared
- We
would see them rescued from their certain condemnation
- We
would see them saved
It is the world who imprisons and executes their enemies.
Search through history and one learns that fundamentalist Christians have never
done that, (only the kind of Christianity that the world is tolerant of did). Bible
believing Christians have always reached out to rescue those who are their
enemies. We do hate. But it is with a perfect hatred.
Very good article!
ReplyDeleteSome so called "Christians", for fear of being thought of as "hate mongers" have come to tolerate anything. In "loving our enemies", we have become soft on sin in all its forms. We seem to ignore the fact that evil uses people for its vehicle. Therefore, we decline to speak out against it, or be appalled by it, or grieved over it. Some, having developed such a tolerant disposition, even smile on it. Hence we do not hate sin with a perfect hatred.
If only we could see wickedness for what it is! If we could see the untold damage a broken marriage vow does, the widespread evil effect of corruption in our government, the lasting wounds and scars left, on the consciences and in the bodies of our youth, by immorality, we would hate it with a perfect hatred
This hatred extends to an abhorrence of the potential sin that still indwells the best of us.
This malignant enemy lurks everywhere. A brutal warfare rages against it until the Lord returns and puts every foe under His feet. In the meantime may we "hate it with a perfect hatred", and hold those, who accommodate it, responsible for its advancement.
Yes, we long for their repentance and salvation, but hold no misgivings as to their potential destiny, and appointment at God's
Great White Throne, in which they will receive their just deserts in that awful place reserved for Satan and his angels. This warning is the speech of love for the unending soul of man.
The Lord Jesus will deal the final death blow to this relentless enemy. And John saw, the yet future event, a great multitude around the heavenly throne praising Him who alone is worthy, and who alone can wash away our sins, and deal with the evil that is in human nature.
Even so come Lord Jesus.